WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Monday convinced the President of Israel, ahead of visit by New Prime Minister Naphtali Bennett, that the United States will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
“Iran will never get nuclear weapons in my watch,” Biden told President Reuven Rivlin in the White House.
Biden also rejected the critics of the Congress who had questioned his legal authority in ordering air strikes against Iran’s supported militias accused of attacking US personnel in Syria and Iraq.
“I have that authority,” said Biden.
The close relationship between the US-Israel hit a rocky patch when Biden replaced Donald Trump in January.
However, the establishment of a new government under Bennett, after the fall of Trump Ally Key Benjamin Netanyahu, had opened the door to reset – and Bennett’s visit in the near future.
White House Press Secretary Jen PSaki said the Biden-Rivlin meeting will “highlight the strength of the relationship of our mutual interest in security and stability.” PSAKI said there was no date for the Bennett White House trip but “the President hopes to host the prime minister and it soon.” On Sunday, the new Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, told us the State Secretary Antony Blinken at a meeting in Rome that he was worried about talks to us with the country’s nuclear ambition.
However, he promised a more cooperative approach.
“We believe in how to discuss the disagreement through direct and professional conversations,” said Lapid.
“In the last few years the error was made,” Lapid added, referring to Netanyahu’s alliance with the Republican Party of Trump.
“We will fix that error.”